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Urban Decision Group Blog

The Kids Aren’t Alright – Uninsured Children in America

Uninsured Children in America

In 2008, the American Community Survey (ACS) began surveying the U.S. population on the subject of health insurance coverage. To date, the most complete data set available is the 2008-2010 3 year ACS which excludes counties and cities with less than 20,000 people. Therefore, it’s not a complete count like the decennial census.

The ACS collects data for this category by age. Although, health insurance is an important topic for all ages, we wanted to focus on the most vulnerable sector of the population – those under age 18. The following table contains the state by state tabulations for the uninsured population under age 18.

Total Pop. < 18

< 18 Without Health Insurance

Percent Without Health Insurance

Alabama Total

1,071,630

70,772

6.6%

Alaska Total

144,851

16,657

11.5%

Arizona Total

1,624,338

216,476

13.3%

Arkansas Total

593,495

42,116

7.1%

California Total

9,274,650

882,629

9.5%

Colorado Total

1,147,198

126,766

11.1%

Connecticut Total

820,097

31,432

3.8%

Delaware Total

205,913

12,830

6.2%

District of Columbia Total

101,791

3,099

3.0%

Florida Total

3,958,142

592,951

15.0%

Georgia Total

2,295,163

242,291

10.6%

Hawaii Total

301,761

9,466

3.1%

Idaho Total

368,636

39,933

10.8%

Illinois Total

3,005,936

144,781

4.8%

Indiana Total

1,543,436

139,610

9.0%

Iowa Total

548,377

23,805

4.3%

Kansas Total

601,649

46,330

7.7%

Kentucky Total

835,244

52,255

6.3%

Louisiana Total

1,071,213

64,478

6.0%

Maine Total

273,464

14,527

5.3%

Maryland Total

1,353,004

67,091

5.0%

Massachusetts Total

1,415,769

21,783

1.5%

Michigan Total

2,329,562

102,834

4.4%

Minnesota Total

1,187,773

73,817

6.2%

Mississippi Total

655,268

65,091

9.9%

Missouri Total

1,262,025

82,132

6.5%

Montana Total

152,439

16,694

11.0%

Nebraska Total

355,303

21,512

6.1%

Nevada Total

650,492

118,891

18.3%

New Hampshire Total

290,932

14,269

4.9%

New Jersey Total

2,065,677

132,937

6.4%

New Mexico Total

489,603

59,350

12.1%

New York Total

4,331,689

215,694

5.0%

North Carolina Total

2,225,931

188,509

8.5%

North Dakota Total

98,789

4,860

4.9%

Ohio Total

2,720,367

172,157

6.3%

Oklahoma Total

837,486

95,185

11.4%

Oregon Total

851,325

89,707

10.5%

Pennsylvania Total

2,785,173

152,367

5.5%

Rhode Island Total

226,106

12,877

5.7%

South Carolina Total

1,055,142

110,882

10.5%

South Dakota Total

116,218

6,066

5.2%

Tennessee Total

1,399,547

83,749

6.0%

Texas Total

6,499,839

1,039,324

16.0%

Utah Total

818,116

92,042

11.3%

Vermont Total

127,624

3,578

2.8%

Virginia Total

1,706,859

117,666

6.9%

Washington Total

1,550,751

109,517

7.1%

West Virginia Total

331,148

17,270

5.2%

Wisconsin Total

1,286,524

61,897

4.8%

Wyoming Total

103,963

8,676

8.3%

Grand Total

70,620,816

6,105,505

8.6%

The percent of the U.S. population under age 18 that is uninsured is approximately 8.6% (excluding towns and counties with a population under 20,000). Check out this map which illustrates where the uninsured young people live. There are some areas that stand out. Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Arizona have rather significant shares of the uninsured under 18 population. There are also notable pockets of uninsured children in Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. This reflects the concentrations of Amish communities.

It’s estimated that the insured population directly pays an additional $1,017 in health insurance premiums to pay for the health care costs incurred by the uninsured. But what about the long term ramifications of having so many uninsured children. Are these children more likely to be unhealthy adults and if so, what is the cost to society?

National health care is a hot topic in America. Is it a right or a privilege? What about the long term economic impact of having so many uninsured children. Are they more likely to become uninsured adults? Are they more likely to develop health problems at a younger age? Who pays for all the negative externalities?